Wolfbane Lake
by thetsunamifan
Summary: The Duchess, Susan Wolfbane, invites her friends the Midfords and the Phantomhive household as well to her island mansion for a several day party and banquet. But the guests soon find that the lake is no ordinary one, and no one is safe left at the mercy of Wolfbane Manor. Worse, Sebastian is left in a supernatural state and everything is at risk. Can the Queen's Watchdog survive?


"Oh, Ciel, I'm so glad you came after all! We'll have so much fun - just you wait!"

Ciel huffed when Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck as if she were trying to choke him. The earl glanced out the window of the train. Their destination was a lakeside mansion owned by a Duchess that Lizzy's mother, the Marchioness Francis Midford, had recently befriended. And now, after Lizzy practically begged her betrothed to accept the invitation, he was aboard a train with the Midford family and the Phantomhive servants, all except for Tanaka.

Even Snake decided to tag along. He sat in the train now speaking with the other servants about what they planned on doing once they arrived. They were anxious for the party promised in the invitations, and perhaps evening having a picnic and swimming in the lake. Though Ciel was, without a doubt, not as thrilled.

Lizzy noticed this immediately. "Ciel, do cheer up," Lizzy pleaded. "I've been to Susan's mansion once before with Mother, and it was terrific! We could only stay for a few hours, sadly, but Susan was very nice. The Duchess is 24 years old, but her sister is closer to our age. Her name's Winnie. She is only 12 but she is very pleasant to be around when you get to know her. She is quite shy, but sh-"

Ciel stopped listening and rested his head against the window, a sense of foreboding making his head spin. Indeed, Queen Victoria had reported to Ciel about the disappearances that were taking place at the lake where the manor was located. Strangely enough, no corpses or any clues were found to suggest anything. The earl felt a bad vibe when he couldn't find any sense of how a criminal could be so intricate in hiding his tracks. Ciel wondered if Sebastian, too, sensed the apprehension he did. But when Ciel glanced in his butler's direction, the demon had his back turned to speak with Lizzy's family and keep a watchful eye on the servants. Ciel realized he often didn't know what Sebastian was thinking or feeling, but rather vise versa.

Then again, he didn't much care.

When they were let off at the train station, they picked up carriages to cover the short distance left before they would arrive at the mansion. Ciel heard Finny's gasp of awe when the manor came into their sight.

"It's even bigger than I imagined, yes it is!" Mey-Rin exclaimed after they all were on solid ground again.

"And it's... it's all the way out there?! _On_ the lake?" Bard yelped.

Everyone overlooked the bridge leading up to the small, privately-owned property in surprise.

"The Duchess likes the safety of the water," Francis said with a grin. "Let's make haste now. I would hate to be late for Susan's banquet."

They were soon standing beneath the balcony of the pale-greenish mansion. Francis knocked on the great doors, and the Duchess herself opened the doors to greet them with a lovely smile. Most of her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a black bow, and her bangs were split in the middle and draped on the sides of her face. She wore a blue ball gown with a dark floral pattern and a hat with white roses.

"Francis, how lovely to see you again. And your friends have come, as well. I'm glad." Susan's brown eyes were friendly as she curtsied to her guests. "You are all just in time. I have a treat for all of you during your stay here. Please make yourselves comfortable. Everyone else is already here."

A young girl was speaking with another older girl who was identical to the Duchess, and Ciel guessed that she was the 'Winnie' who Lizzy mentioned earlier that day. The girl wore a dress similar to her sister's, though Winnie's was red rather than blue. Except for the new Viscountess Brook, Ciel did not recognize any of the other guests. As if she read her cousin's mind, Lizzy took Ciel's hand and smiled. "I'll introduce you to everyone."

The earl's betrothed was certainly not one to lie. Within an hour or so of being there, Ciel felt as if he'd met everyone's first-born and then some. He learned that a guest named Reuben was an artisan who was choosy with the materials he used for crafting. He had an unpleasant face, lived in a rather bad area of London and wore a top hat that hid greasy reddish hair. Cole was a young doctor who stood out with his combed-back platinum blonde hair, blue eyes and the beginnings of a goatee. Ciel decided he had a decent personality. Darcie Derby was a middle-aged lady with freckles and her husband, Howard, was slightly shorter than his wife. The married couple brought their 10-year-old daughter, Sophie, to the party as well. They'd been close friends with the Duchess since she was very young, and they looked more than happy to be with the Duchess today.

Ian was the au pair of the Wolfbane household. The young man's particular traits were his appearance - dark, slicked back hair and a neat black bow around his neck - and his feminine attitude. Warren, the head butler of the household, had his brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and, like Ian, had a bow tied around his neck. He seemed like a solitary man but Ciel noticed how kind he acted around Winnie and Sophie.

By the time Lizzy finished introducing Ciel to the guests, it was time to eat. The guests sat themselves at the banquet table with the finest white cloth that reached across the dining room. The Duchess Wolfbane tapped her glass gently, smiling when all eyes were on her. "A toast to friends new and old. Cheers!"

Everyone sipped their glasses of wine. As the table fell into a fit of individual conversations, the tension in the air returned to Ciel. Even so, he knew there was no reason to feel so uneasy inside the mansion. After all, if the lake criminals had the least bit of wit, they wouldn't invade the Duchess's Manor. Ciel ousted the nagging feeling of foreboding when he noticed Winnie staring at him from beside Sophie. She looked the other way when their eyes met and whispered something into Sophie's ear. Ciel looked away also when Lizzy tapped his arm gently.

"Is something wrong, Ciel?" Lizzy asked curiously.

"Of course not," Ciel assured Lizzy with a forced smile that nearly made him nauseous. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Lizzy returned the smile. "Yes, I am very much!"

Ciel lifted a spoonful of food to his lips. Surely, all was well.

That night, Ciel decided to do a small, independent investigation to assure himself that there was no need to worry. The boy climbed out of bed immediately after Sebastian tucked him in and left. The Duchess had given her guests rooms to sleep in for their stay that would last a few days. But Ciel couldn't sleep... instead, he grabbed a robe from a walk-in closet inside the bedroom and walked barefoot out into the cold hall. He'd never seen such a large mansion in his life, and could easily get lost or found out by someone. But that wouldn't serve as much of a problem, so long as Ciel whispered the name of a certain demonic butler...

Ciel took turn after turn as he journeyed through the long and ominously dark halls. There were hardly any windows, and all of them were draped by curtains so that no moonlight could aid Ciel through the dark. An opened door just barely caught Ciel's eye in time. Taking the risk of getting caught, Ciel opened the door slowly. The _creeeaaakk _made Ciel flinch slightly. He cursed himself for being so jumpy and closed the door behind him. It was a small wooden room with a desk across from the door. He approached it and turned on a lamp, squinting as his sleepy eyes adjusted and found a journal on the desk. He opened it up and looked over its pages.

"What are these...?" Ciel whispered. There were dark sketches of creatures that Ciel didn't recognize. It looked as if ink had spilled over on the papers, and there were blurred sentences that Ciel couldn't quite make out.

_"Won't wait... feed..."_

_"Sacrifice them..."_

Ciel dreaded being where he was the further he looked into the journal and its random alarming words and graphic drawings. There was a single image that filled Ciel with dread. There were multiple beings gathered together with similar disturbing faces all drawn in black ink. The same page of the journal was splattered in red ink. Was the red suppose to represent... blood?

After viewing a few more nightmare-worthy images and words, Ciel nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of footsteps coming his way. Frantic, he searched the claustrophobic room until he found an empty cabinet that could just fit someone his size. He squeezed inside and closed the door softly to make as little noise as possible. Queasy with anticipation and fear, Ciel crouched down and waited for the steps to die away. To his horror, the footsteps didn't fade. They became much more vivid when they entered the room, an intimidating _clack-clack-clack, _and they were heading straight for the cabinet. Ciel bit his bottom lip, wide-eyed as the cabinet door creaked open again.


End file.
